Burke Baker Planetarium’s Re-Opening out of This World

Only astronauts will have a better seat to majestic views of distant galaxies, neighboring planets and more. The Burke Baker Planetarium and Friedkin Theater will re-open Friday, March 11 with a top-of-the-line digital laser projection system never before seen on Earth.

The “world’s best” moniker rests on the system’s ability to deliver more than 50 million unique pixels at a level of resolution and contrast unmatched by any theater of its kind. Images this clear, for example, allow guests to identify streets of Houston from space, tour the Valles Marineris on the surface of Mars or explore individual clouds in the storms of Jupiter’s Great Red Spot.

“When it first opened in 1964, the planetarium used giant opto-mechanical machines that simply replicated the night sky. This 21st century extreme makeover now allows visitors to travel through time and space to anywhere our data and our imaginations can take us. Whether it’s to neighboring planets, distant galaxies, a stellar birth cloud, a star in the throes of death, or even back to the big bang when our universe began, every image will be about as sharp and vivid as the human eye can perceive,” said Dr. Carolyn Sumners, VP of Astronomy & Physics at HMNS in a release.

But the breathtaking visuals aren’t all you’ll enjoy at the planetarium. The goal is to provide guests with the experience of “being there”. To accomplish this, the planetarium’s seats have been elevated and tilted so that visitors feel as though they are traveling through space. Be one of the first to visit the all-new planetarium and witness the best view of the stars on the planet.

For tickets or more information about the Burke Baker Planetarium, visit www.hmns.org or call (713) 639-4629.